The Seed of His Heart
by ff-khfanatic18
Summary: Xemnas orders Marluxia to assassinate Cloud and get both his Heartless and Nobody. He succeeds, but Sephiroth steps in out of nowhere. Hurt badly, Marluxia leaves but it isn’t the last time he sees Sephiroth. Please read and review! MarluxiaSephiroth.


**The Seed of His Heart:**

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**Summary:** Xemnas orders Marluxia to assassinate Cloud and get both his Heartless and Nobody. He succeeds, but Sephiroth steps in out of nowhere and places his heart back into his body before he could disappear. Hurt badly, Marluxia leaves but it isn't the last he sees of Sephiroth.

**A/N: **I've decided to make this story because no one else has this odd pairing. I wanted to be the first one. Well, here you go. I hope you enjoy.

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**Chapter One: The Order:**

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Finding peace with plants of all types was almost second nature to him. He shifted his position, turning to his side to face his only plant, a Venus flytrap, which was the only plant he was allowed to have because of Xemnas.

Once again, he sighed in boredom. The sound of buzzing caught his ears, and his dark blue eyes looked up at the window in time to see a wandering fly, fly into the room. He smirked, getting an idea.

"Looks like the Superior has arrived", he growled, reaching his hand out to the Venus flytrap as if he were extending his power to it.

The big strange-looking plant seemed to react, squirming around a little. Once the dark-eyed gardener saw a tongue arise from between the plant's "mouth", he waited until the fly grew closer to make it grow longer.

"'Marluxia, you cannot have any more than one plant in your room. You're lucky I'll even let you have that'", the botanist said in a mimicking voice as he rolled his eyes.

He had only been in the Organization for around a year now and he hadn't been put on one mission. Not one! Even Larxene, who was younger than he was and has been in the Organization for a shorter time than he has, has been on a mission. The higher-ups always claimed he was too young and incompetent to do any mission. But how would they know that without even sending him on one? He was built and strong, strong enough to take on any foe. But they didn't care.

Scowling, once they fly was in reach, he made the Venus flytrap's tongue extend rapidly, making it lunge for the fly. He made sure the fly couldn't get away and trapped it, and soon the fly got caught on the tongue. It wasn't able to move since the adhesive substances on its tongue made it impossible.

The fly continued to struggle, all in vain, until the plant's tongue returned to its "mouth". The plant closed its "jaws" and devoured the fly, and Marluxia grinned when he heard the buzzing from the fly stop completely.

"Xemnas…", he growled.

A few more flies came in, and the plant-controller disposed of them as well, naming them Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion. As soon as "Zexion" (the last one) was enclosed inside of the fly trap's "mouth", he heard a voice.

"Are you through playing with your plant, Marluxia?" it asked, making Marluxia freeze a bit.

The botanist looked over his shoulder while lying on the bed only to see the presence of a hooded figure at the foot of his bed. Recognizing the figure, his dark blue eyes narrowed slightly as he got up from his bed and bowed partially to the figure. The figure's hand raised and moved to take his hood off, revealing long silver hair, tan skin, and piecing golden eyes. Those golden eyes stared at the gardener as he stood straight.

"Superior…what a pleasant surprise…", he said in the fakest tone he could muster.

"You seem troubled. Is my presence causing that look of vexation upon your face?" the silver-haired man asked with a false worried look on his face.

"It is nothing…sir", the mahogany-haired man replied, straining to call such a jackass a respective name or title.

"Good…", the Superior sighed with a small smirk. "I have a deal for you".

"What is it that you desire of me?" the gardener said through gritted teeth, but his eyes seemed interested in what was to be said.

"There is a man that goes by the name of Cloud Strife. He is very powerful, indeed, and can use the power of darkness as well as light when provoked. He was last reported in Hollow Bastion. Your mission from me, Graceful Assassin, is to bring me his Nobody and his Heartless. If you successfully do this for me, I'll make you lord of Castle Oblivion and leader of the Keyblade mission", the Superior said, watching as the botanist smirked.

Finally, a mission to do after all this time!

"I accept…", he said, and the silver-haired man nodded and disappeared.

Marluxia walked over to his closet and opened the door. He was happy to see his pink rose was still there, growing from the white floor. He had kept it secret, hiding it with his black jackets, shirts pants, and boots. Plus he had been able to produce a barrier that would make it invisible.

He walked over to it, his precious rose. It was almost the same color as his hair and he cherished it more than the flytrap by his bed. If the higher-ranking members ever found it and knew its power, not only would he be turned into a Dusk, the plant wouldn't have a master to control it. And he had heard that without a master it would be beneficial to Kingdom Hearts. As of how, he never knew.

All he could remember as of how he received the flower was that a woman in the dark told him what he knows of the plant and then gave it to him in the shape of a seed. He was near death and would be dead soon when he heard the pleasant and familiar voice of the woman.

"_You should protect it at all times. Tell no one of it no matter what the cost for it will put you in danger. I didn't know that when I picked this rose seed when I was alive that it would hold such power. Without its master, the receiver of the rose, it'll be beneficial to the creation of Kingdom Hearts. You don't want that. You still have life in you, my love…Raulami"._

He squatted near it and summoned a pair of scissors to his hands. Once it appeared, he removed a dying petal and carefully put the scissors away. He had still, after all this time, not been able to control the power of a completely healthy rose so he chose a weak one so he could complete his mission. It didn't help that he was rusty and hadn't fought with anything or anyone since he's been in the Organization.

He closed his hand with the petal in it and it began to glow. In the blink of an eye, the light had extended in either direction of his hand, taking the shape of a scythe. The light faded and in his hand was a beautiful pink and green scythe. It almost looked like the rose itself in a way. Its stick was green like the stem of the flower, and the blade was pink, a different shade than the rose.

The gardener smiled as he stepped out of the closet. He swung the weapon in the air, making it go in circles as he partially tested it out. When he was done, he brought it to his side. He stared at it for a long moment before he finally summoned a portal and left.

_This shouldn't be hard. I'll test myself out on those groups of wretched Heartless in that world before I take Cloud down…_

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Darkness. All he saw was darkness. Was this what he truly wanted? He had no other choice. The light was running from him, and he finally had become tired and succumbed to the darkness he had been running away from.

He walked down the long path of the Underworld down the path that was only lit with a few blue flames. With him, he had his huge sword that was wrapped with fresh white cloth. He had promised himself that he wouldn't fight anymore, but with the appearance of the heartless, he had to.

He was so deep in thought, that he didn't notice a pair of eyes staring at him. Those eyes watched as he cut down every heartless that stood in his way. He figured that he could use this strong, blonde warrior to his advantage.

The blonde warrior froze immediately when he heard a voice and looked around. He couldn't hear the voice very well. The pair of eyes disappeared so it wouldn't be seen. The blonde kept hearing it, but this time, he could hear it clearly.

"Cloud…", it said.

It sounded like a female voice.

"What is it? Who are you?" he asked.

The voice didn't reply. Instead, it showed him an image of him cradling a girl's dead body. The corpse was bleeding profusely from the abdominal area and it was a pale white color. The blonde gasped and moved away, looking frightened.

_Get yourself together, Cloud…_

The blonde calmed his heard and kept walking, walking away from the scene that was played before him. He blocked his mind and focused on why he was here. The only reason he was such a dank place as that was because of Hades, the ruler of the Underworld, summoned him. Don't get him wrong, he was no one's permanent lap dog. Not anymore. He was purely a mercenary.

He made his way through the winding paths to get to Hades' lair. As soon as he stood before the huge double doors, they slowly opened. Hades must've sensed him coming. Picking his sword up off the ground, he entered through the doors.

As soon as he got through, he saw a very tall man with a large blue flame for hair and dark blue grayish skin. The part of his eyes outside of the irises was yellow, and the color of the main part of his eyes was blue. He wore a long black tunic that covered his whole body, and the whole corner he was in seemed as dark and black as the clothes he was wearing.

The blonde was wary to approach the other male but as soon as he put his first foot forward, the voice of the man stopped him.

"Cloud…", the man said as he quickly turned around.

Suddenly, he started smiling which scared Cloud even more.

"Nice to see ya, buddy. I didn't think you would come for a second. How was your trip?" the ruler of the Underworld said all in one breath, which caught the blonde off guard once again.

The blonde opened his mouth to say something, but before he could actually say anything the other male suddenly appeared beside him, put his arm over his shoulders, and began talking first, "I have a deal for you".

The blonde rolled his eyes and shut his mouth. He merely closed his eyes to listen to what the buffoon had to say. He would tell him his price after he announced to him what he had to do.

"Do you know a guy named Hercules?" the ruler asked, pausing to actually let the blonde answer.

The blonde only shook his head.

The ruler sighed and said, "He's a big strong guy around here with funny looking red hair. Ring any bells?"

The blonde still shook his head and said in a frustrated tone, "Just tell me what you want me to do?"

"Pushy, aren't we? Geez, why do I always deal with the thick-headed ones?" the other Underworld ruler said, whispering the last part to himself as he turned his head for a split second before coming back to look at Cloud. "I want you…to kill him in the tournament coming up".

The blonde shrugged his shoulders to get the taller man off him and walked away to put some space between them but not that much. The blonde then turned around to face the other male with his arms crossed across his chest.

"I'll agree to do this only if you accept my terms", he says with glowing blue eyes glued on the other person in the room.

"Which is?" Hades asked.

"I want you to help me find her…", Cloud said as he reached into his pocket and took out a picture of girl with long brown hair that's tied in a ponytail and with forest green eyes. "And a guy named Sephiroth".

"Sephiroth!? The silver-haired guy with the sword that's longer than I don't know what!?" the ruler of the Underworld gasped.

"Is that a problem?" the blonde asked.

"No, it's just…difficult. He hasn't been seen in years", the ruler said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead that appeared with just the sound of his name.

"And what about her…?" the blonde asked as he waved the picture of the girl in the taller man's face.

Hades took the picture and looked at it, "I think I've seen her before. Okay, I'll accept those terms…but what is she to you? A girlfriend…?"

The blonde turned away, "That's none of your business".

"And what of Sephiroth?" Hades asked.

"Also…none of your business…", the blonde said.

With that the blonde walked away, leaving the ruler of the Underworld to his own problems. The blonde left the Underworld without running into Cerberus fortunately. He was told that Hades usually let the three-headed beast roam the Underworld from time to time.

Sighing, Cloud returned to the surface. His boots hit the sands that covered the grounds as he walked towards the stairs of the entrance of the Coliseum. Once he gets there, he stares at the darkness that he just left, the Underworld.

Within a few seconds, he grew bored again and remembered one of the reasons why he preferred the darkness over the light. Maybe he didn't even want to find his light, but he did want to find the girl in the picture as well as Sephiroth.

He stood up again and entered the Coliseum and approached a creature that was half man and half goat. The creature was busy sweeping the dirty stone floors. He just stood there until the creature finally looked up and gasped, not knowing that the blonde was there and not hearing him come in at all.

"Boy, did you scare me!" he breathed. "The name's Phil. What can I do for you?"

"I would like to fight in the preliminaries", the blonde said plainly.

"Um…", Phil began, but the blond had already began walking into the entrance to the fighting arena. "But Herc is in there. Oh well, it shouldn't hurt".

As soon as Cloud got through the door, he saw a red headed man wrestling a white winged horse. The blonde merely looked at him as he stopped walking, gluing his eyes on the strong warrior.

_Is this the man that Hades wants me to kill?_

He thought about it for a while, looking at the ground below him for a split second before he heard the sounds of laughter and neighing from the two in the arena stop. He heard someone clear their throat and looked up only to meet the red head's blue eyes.

"Hey, there…are you new around here?" he asked.

The blonde said nothing as he began to walk towards him. The red head became confused and asked the question again. The blonde still didn't answer, coming closer with each second. He began to pull out his sword, putting it in front of him. Finally, when he was a few feet away from the red head, he stopped and got into a defensive pose. The red head told the winged horse to get to safety and he got off the arena and made his way safely to the side.

"You wanna fight me, don't you?" the man asked. "What's your name?"

"That's none of your business", the blonde said before he suddenly lunged for the red head.

The red head smirked and created a golden aura around him; his skin becoming more tan than before. He blocked the sword's swing with the strongest part of his arm. The blonde pulled away and lunged again. This time the attack is more vicious. The red head saw the seriousness of the blonde's attacks on his face and became even more confused as to why the blonde suddenly attacked him.

"Why are you attacking me for?" the red head asked he began to move out of the way of the blonde's swings.

"That is none of your business!" the blonde suddenly yelled, lunging for the red head quicker than before.

The red head wasn't able to catch the blonde this time and got a small cut on his right arm. He had barely been able to jump out of the way. The red head saw the blood and looked back at the blonde, figuring that he should start to get serious too.

He charged at the blonde, head first, running at him as fast as he could. The blonde blocked the attack with his sword, but was pushed back a few feet. The blonde pushed the red head back and soon as he did, the red head lunged forward with a punch.

The blonde was shocked when he felt the red head's fist hit his left cheek roughly, knocking him into the nearest pole and putting a pretty big dent in it. He didn't believe that anyone could hit him, not with that kind of force anyway. He stood on his feet and spit a few droplets of blood on the arena.

"Liked that?" the red head asked with a smirk.

The blonde rubbed his cheek and smirked himself. He suddenly started to float. Golden electric sparks sporadically appeared around him, and the single black wing on his back began to move, flapping in the air and getting him off the ground. Soon, once he was charged up, he flew towards the red head and swung his sword. In the blink of an eye, he flew across the whole arena.

The red head could barely catch the blonde's movements. Before he knew it, the blonde took a wide sweep, cutting the red head deep in his side. The red head screamed out in pain and fell to his knees, clutching his side. The blonde flew around and landed in front of him with his sword over the red head's head. The red head looked up at the blonde. The pain he was feeling was clearly shown in his eyes.

"_Kill him…"_

_No! I can't…_

"_Kill him…"_

_NO!_

The blonde used one of his hands to fist a thick lock of golden hair. He growled, trying to make the voices in his head stop talking to him. The red head saw his struggle and slowly got up to see if he could get away. The blonde pointed his sword closer to the red head, making him stop. Dark blue eyes glared at the red head and finally the blonde spoke.

"I'm letting you go only because I want to", he simply said as he threw a small green vile at the red head and began to walk away. "I'll be destroying you later".

With that, the blonde walked away, seeing Phil with the winged horse. The red head grabbed the vile with the last of his strength then he passed out. Phil was shocked to see the red head down and looked at the blonde who showed no remorse for what he had down.

"What did you do to Herc!?" he gasped. "Ai! Ai! Ai! Can a guy ever get a break around here? I'm coming, Herc! And you better not be dead!"

The blonde rolled his eyes and left, returning to the entrance where he heard the voice again.

"_It's a shame that you didn't kill him…"_

_I'm not as bloodthirsty as you…_

"_You're wrong. Have you not stopped searching for your light?"_

The blonde was speechless.

"_The darkness has finally seduced you"_

_Shut up, Sephiroth!_

"_Embrace it and make it yours. All the light has ever done was run away from you. The darkness won't"._

The blonde got quiet again, closing his eyes. He could see the face of the silver-haired warrior with his glowing emerald eyes. Those same eyes that burned him in his dreams and nightmares. He could see the smirk of the warrior as well as the single black wing that was attached to his back like the one he carried on his.

"_Come to me, Cloud. Let me show you how to control the power of darkness so it doesn't overrun you. The vacant house in Traverse Town is the perfect place. I'm actually allowing you to find me, isn't that what you want?"_

The blonde doesn't say anything, and he noticed that the voice had left him after saying that. He had stopped searching for his light and he didn't want these new found powers that he had obtained from using the power of darkness to consume him. Plus he had been searching for the silver-haired angel since the incident. Seeing Sephiroth seemed like a logical idea as long as he kept his sword on him.

_Fine, I'll go…_

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**A/N:** Well, there's the first chapter. I hope you liked it. Right now, I'm just getting into Cloud's part of the story, but there WILL be more Marluxia later. Trust me. Anyway, please review.


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